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Smoky Mountain Fork Tail

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I saw this fly mentioned in a book about Smoky Mountain fly fishing. It was mentioned as a nymph (there was not a picture of it), but the only thing I can find in an on line search is a dry fly. It looks like a pretty good fly as a dry fly, but I would still like to see the nymph version if it actually exists. It looks to me to be on the order of the Prince nymph. I suppose I could tie one by substituting the dry fly hackle with some kind of soft hackle. Anyone know of a nymph version?

Joe

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Smoky%20Mountain%20Forked%20Tail.jpg

 

Smoky Mountain Fork Tail

 

I was going to check the books I have on Smoky Mountains & East Tennessee fly patterns...

 

Not the nymph.. but here you go for the dry..

 

http://www.smokymountainflyguide.com/tutorials_flytying.htm/smoky%20mountain%20forked%20tail.htm

 

Hook: Mustad 94831 or 94840 dry fly hook, size 14
Thread: orange floss
Tail: 2 brown or tan goose biots
Body: orange floss wrapped to shape full length of the body.
Wings: 2 brown or tan goose biots
Hackle: light ginger rooster hackle

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Thanks guys for all the replies. The pics that flytire posted were very good, and I have to say the this forked tail looks nothing like the dry fly, but then, a nymph usually does not resemble the adult. When I first saw the post, I thought it looked a lot like a black version of the yellar hammer, but with no yellow. I'm going to make a stab at it and substitute some material; i.e., peacock hurl (as I don't have any ostrich hurl, and maybe a quail or starling wing feather as I don't have any crow feathers. I tried to post a picture, but I received a message that said the file was too large to load.

Joe

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I'm sorry what you perceived is not what you expected

 

When you find the "actual" recipe, please post it

 

:)

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Cheap and plenty ostrich can be found at Walmart in natural feather dusters. I been using 2 feathers for over a year now. About 10.00 us for the duster.

 

You can use photobucket to post full sized images. Otherwise file reduction app.

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post-61897-0-03120700-1533316552_thumb.jpg

 

I think I got it to work.

 

Sorry the fly pic is so blurry, but I think you can get the gist of it; i.e., orange dubbed body, goose boots fo the tail and wings, peacock hurl for the collar or thorax, and partridge soft hackle.

Joe

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When researching this fly, The Smoky Mountain Forked Tail nymph I could not find it as I stated. But thanks to flytire for the additional info. Little did I know that the "Crow Fly" is another name for the same nymph. I found a picture and recipe for the Crow Fly in Ian Rutter's book, "GSMNP Fly Fishing Guide." The first picture is my rendition. Notice I used black dyed goose biots to add a real "forked tail" as well as a tungsten bead.

Joe

post-61897-0-72192700-1533672034_thumb.jpg

post-61897-0-29959800-1533672189_thumb.jpg

post-61897-0-69183800-1533672223_thumb.jpg

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Would this be using the leading edge or trailing edge of the wing feather for the hackle? I have a starling skin and don't have much use for the wings yet.

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Would this be using the leading edge or trailing edge of the wing feather for the hackle? I have a starling skin and don't have much use for the wings yet.

Yes, that is exactly what I used. I soaked the feathers from a starling wing for a few hours by placing them in wet paper towels. This makes them more pliable. I either split the feather or pulled off one side, whichever was the easiest to do at the time. I used the shortest edge of the feathers. I also trimmed some of them (the edge) to about 1/8" or so. That seemed to work ok too.

Joe

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